Luxuria et Castitas
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day five hundred and thirty-three:  sins and virtues 1 of 7  When Carl tells Emma about a visit he had at his clinic, she calls Santana into her office.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 25th cycle. Now cycle 26!_

**SINS + VIRTUES SET:** _Day 1 of 7: Luxuria (Lust) + Castitas (Chastity) _

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><p><strong>"Luxuria et Castitas"<br>Santana & Emma (& Carl) **

Carl had thought it could be good for them, if he came over for them to have lunch together. Emma had been unsure at the beginning, but then she'd quickly realized this could be worth looking into, even if she preferred to keep her office and food as separate as possible, so not to increase the risk of bugs or stains… It wasn't long before it felt like an intimate indoor picnic, which she preferred for the very same reasons as she took issue with food in her office. Carl got to tell her about his morning, even telling her about certain procedures. He would have thought she wouldn't like to hear these things as she ate, but she was simply riveted. And Emma, she told him about her own morning, adding the hint of school gossip that Carl seemed to like as well, though he would say he just liked to see the looks on her face as she told him about it all.

The windows that made up one of her office walls could have been a distraction, but they would both end up getting used to ignore it. Most people were off having their own lunches anyway. It wasn't until the second week that Carl brought up something which broke their ignorance of that wall.

Emma had seen Santana go by and, when she did, it was as though her subconscious had woken up and informed her that it wasn't the first time she'd seen the girl go by during their lunches. Carl saw her looking and, when he asked what was going on, she told him. He chuckled and shook his head, and that was when he told her about the times the girl would drop by his clinic, 'just to say hi,' perfect teeth and all. Emma had almost dropped her fork.

After Carl had left to get back to his office, Emma had started pacing in hers. It had to be taken care of, before things got out of hand. So she sent for Santana to be pulled out of class and sent to her office. She showed up, looking more pleased to be out of class than confused as to why she'd been called in.

"Please, Santana, have a seat," Emma indicated the chair, and both of them sat, across from one another. She might have sat on the other side, with her, but in this instance she preferred having the desk in between. "Santana, I… I need to talk to you about something important."

"Oh, did you finally rip one of Schuester's many vests to shreds?" she asked with a smirk.

"W… No, no," Emma shook her head, pausing with a breath before resettling in her chair. "It's C… Dr. Howell," she corrected herself.

"Even better," Santana almost looked like she was congratulating her.

"There was no ripping, no… Santana, this is serious," Emma tried to regain control of the situation.

"Have you two even done it, or are you still…" she gestured, and Emma startled.

"Who told you that?" she asked, then quickly realized she had spoken too fast.

"Please, it's so evident," Santana shrugged. "Explains a lot, too."

"Alright, we're not talking about that here… or anywhere…" she insisted. "Dr. Howell has told me about your visit to his clinic."

"So? I care about dental hygiene," she shrugged innocently.

"Your teeth are perfect," Emma pointed out, and Santana bowed her head as though to say 'why, yes, they are.' "Look, you can't be seeking him out that way. I mean, there are laws about this, and you could get people in trouble." Now she didn't have a reply, so Emma carried on. "You may say you know these things about me, but you know what, I know some things about you, too. And the part that confuses me about this is why you would be doing anything like this."

"I'm sorry, but have you seen him?" Santana sat up.

"Y-yes… But that's not what this is about, and you know it." Again, Santana didn't reply, not at first.

"What else do you expect me to do?"

"I get that image is important to all you kids out there, and if you want to project a certain one for them, that's your choice. What I'm wondering is… What's the image you're trying to project to yourself?" Santana didn't have any further responses to give in the way she had a moment before. Finally, Emma stood and moved to sit on the other side of the desk, across from the girl. "If you ever want to talk…"

"I don't," she got up, moving toward the door.

"Santana, stop," Emma turned, and Santana stopped, just at the door, though turned away. "You can't keep running. One of these days, you'll fall. Or you can choose to stop running, before you fall."

"Maybe I just need to run a little more first," Santana responded, and Emma knew they wouldn't get any further, not now.

"When you're ready, my door's open." She finally turned to look at the counsellor.

"I know," she gave a small nod, and then she left.

After that day, Emma suggested they move the 'picnic' over to his office. She blamed it on thinking she'd seen an ant hill in her office, and that was that. As far as she was concerned, it would be easier that way, for all of them.

THE END

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><p><strong>AN: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
><strong>**In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
><strong>****always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!** **


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